Members of the European Parliament will get to question Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg today on everything from Cambridge Analytica and Europe's new privacy rules to the social network's role in elections and foreign investment. He's also expected to apologize over not taking a "broad enough view of our responsibilities" and not doing "enough to prevent the tools we've built from being used for harm." The meeting will be broadcast live starting at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Economy

The easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China is continuing, with the latter pledging to cut import tariffs on passenger vehicles to 15%, down from 25%. Import duties on car parts will be reduced to 6%. It comes after Washington froze its proposed Chinese tariffs and looked into lifting the ban on ZTE (see below), while Beijing halted its probe into U.S. sorghum imports and restarted the review of the Qualcomm-NXP deal. Premarket movement: F +1.6%, FCAU +2.4%, GM +1.3%, TSLA +0.8%, TTM +3.3%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department has slapped steep import duties on steel products from Vietnam that originated in China after a final determination that they evaded U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy orders. The case stems from a petition filed by AK Steel (NYSE:AKS), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), alleging that Chinese producers began diverting their steel shipments to Vietnam "immediately" after duties were imposed in 2015 and 2016.

Largely unknown Florence University law professor Giuseppe Conte has been chosen by the coalition of the Five Star Movement and League to lead Italy's government. If his appointment is confirmed by President Sergio Mattarella, he will present a list of cabinet members for the president's approval. The ruling body will then be subject to confidence votes in both houses of parliament.

Brexit negotiations will resume today in Brussels following Theresa May's compromise offer last week at the Western Balkans summit in Sofia. Her new "backstop" proposal would keep the U.K. tied to European customs rules for longer in a bid to solve the Irish border issue. While she forced ministers to get behind her plan, it received a cool response from EU leaders and officials.

The U.S. House is soon expected to vote on a Senate-passed bill that would raise the level at which banks are considered "systemically important," exempts smaller banks from rules banning proprietary trading and loosens minimum standards on certain home mortgage loans. It would be the biggest rewrite of financial laws since the Dodd-Frank reform act passed after the financial crisis.

The fiscal outlook for the U.S. "is not good," according to Goldman Sachs, and "lawmakers might hesitate to approve fiscal stimulus in the next downturn." The bank expects the federal deficit to increase from $825B (or 4.1% of GDP) to $1.25T (5.5% of GDP) by 2021, and by 2028, it forecasts the number to balloon to $2.05T (7% of GDP).

Stocks

The U.S. and China have agreed on the broad outline of a deal that would save China's ZTE (OTC:ZTCOY), WSJ reports, as the two nations move closer to resolving their trade dispute. It would be required to make significant changes to management and the board, as well as pay possible fines, to lift a ban on U.S. companies selling the telecom giant components and software.

Besides a critical evaluation from Consumer Reports, Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 needs to sell more expensive editions to keep the company afloat. "Shipping min cost Model 3 right away wd cause Tesla to lose money & die. Need 3 to 6 months after 5k/wk to ship $35k Tesla & live," tweeted Elon Musk. The bare-bones version was supposed to help Musk reach his goal of creating an "affordable mass-market electric car."

With worries surfacing over its new visitor policy, like fears of becoming homeless shelters and drug havens, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) has clarified the new guidelines. Employees now have detailed instructions on what to do if someone is behaving in an inappropriate fashion, such as smoking, taking drugs or alcohol, using restrooms improperly or sleeping. Customers can also be banned from stores if they're disruptive.

Big changes at the Big Board... The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ICE) is set to get its first female leader in its 226-year history as current chief operating officer, Stacey Cunningham, becomes the company's 67th president. With Adena Friedman taking the CEO role at Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in January 2017, it means two of the world's best-known stock-exchange operators will be run by women.

Two new deaths from Ebola - including one in the provincial capital of Mbandaka - and seven new confirmed cases have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Merck (NYSE:MRK) is now sending an additional 8,000 doses of its vaccine to the country, on top of the 8,640 doses it already shipped in conjunction with the World Health Organization.

Tech roundup: Sony (NYSE:SNE) is set to become the world's No.1 music publisher with a $3.6B deal for EMI, while Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) entered its biggest deal in nearly a decade by acquiring e-commerce services provider Magento Commerce for $1.68B. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) is buying back up to $10B of its shares and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is aiming to expand its cloud computing operations into Latin America.

The Obama Channel? Former U.S. President Obama and the former first lady, Michelle Obama, have signed a multiyear deal to produce shows and documentaries for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). The focus: "We hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world."

Complying with a recent ruling from the World Trade Organization, Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY) has made some changes regarding loans for the A380 and A350XWB planes. The legal battle has seen the U.S. and Europe trade blows on behalf of their local planemakers, with the EU expecting to strike a win in a parallel case on American support for Boeing (NYSE:BA) later this year.

Israel is the first country in the world to carry out an "operational attack" with Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) F-35, Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin declared, stating strikes with the aircraft were conducted on two different fronts. Israel began receiving the fifth-generation stealth fighter from the U.S in December 2016, and the aircraft were declared operational approximately a year later.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan -0.2%. Hong Kong +0.6%. China flat. India +0.1%.
In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.1%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude +0.2% to $72.52. Gold +0.2% to $1293.90. Bitcoin -1.6% to $8261.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bps to 3.08%

Today's Economic Calendar

8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg
1:00 PM Results of $33B, 2-Year Note Auction